Accelerated Stress Testing of Fuel Cell Membranes Subjected to Combined Mechanical/Chemical Stressors and Cerium Migration
Abstract
A highly accelerated stress test (HAST) has been developed to generate local stressful conditions that are representative of those in automotive fuel cell stacks. Using a 50-cm2 cell cycled between 0.05 and 1.2 A/cm2 with a low inlet RH in the co-flow configuration, the HAST creates a distribution of combined mechanical/chemical stressors in the membrane with the maximum chemical stress occurring near the gas inlets and the maximum mechanical stress near the outlets. Conducting HASTs using a current distribution measurement tool and a shorting/crossover diagnostic method to track the state of health of a robust membrane containing both a mechanical support and a chemical stabilizing additive, the result shows that the membrane location with the most severe thinning coincides with that of the deepest membrane hydration cycling. Upon examination of the cerium redistribution patterns after the test, it was found that the severe humidity cycling generated by the HAST condition near the outlet region not only generated the highest membrane mechanical stress but also resulted in the strongest water flux, which may cause local depletion of the cerium added as chemical stabilizer. Further study is required to decouple the cerium migration effect from the possible mechanical/chemical synergistic degradation effect.
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- General Motors Corp., Pontiac, MI (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1509879
- Grant/Contract Number:
- EE0007651
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of the Electrochemical Society
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 165; Journal Issue: 6; Journal ID: ISSN 0013-4651
- Publisher:
- The Electrochemical Society
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 25 ENERGY STORAGE; durability; PEM fuel; cell proton exchange membrane
Citation Formats
Lai, Yeh-Hung, Rahmoeller, Kenneth M., Hurst, James H., Kukreja, Ratandeep S., Atwan, Mohammed, Maslyn, Andrew J., and Gittleman, Craig S. Accelerated Stress Testing of Fuel Cell Membranes Subjected to Combined Mechanical/Chemical Stressors and Cerium Migration. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1149/2.0241806jes.
Lai, Yeh-Hung, Rahmoeller, Kenneth M., Hurst, James H., Kukreja, Ratandeep S., Atwan, Mohammed, Maslyn, Andrew J., & Gittleman, Craig S. Accelerated Stress Testing of Fuel Cell Membranes Subjected to Combined Mechanical/Chemical Stressors and Cerium Migration. United States. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0241806jes
Lai, Yeh-Hung, Rahmoeller, Kenneth M., Hurst, James H., Kukreja, Ratandeep S., Atwan, Mohammed, Maslyn, Andrew J., and Gittleman, Craig S. Tue .
"Accelerated Stress Testing of Fuel Cell Membranes Subjected to Combined Mechanical/Chemical Stressors and Cerium Migration". United States. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0241806jes. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1509879.
@article{osti_1509879,
title = {Accelerated Stress Testing of Fuel Cell Membranes Subjected to Combined Mechanical/Chemical Stressors and Cerium Migration},
author = {Lai, Yeh-Hung and Rahmoeller, Kenneth M. and Hurst, James H. and Kukreja, Ratandeep S. and Atwan, Mohammed and Maslyn, Andrew J. and Gittleman, Craig S.},
abstractNote = {A highly accelerated stress test (HAST) has been developed to generate local stressful conditions that are representative of those in automotive fuel cell stacks. Using a 50-cm2 cell cycled between 0.05 and 1.2 A/cm2 with a low inlet RH in the co-flow configuration, the HAST creates a distribution of combined mechanical/chemical stressors in the membrane with the maximum chemical stress occurring near the gas inlets and the maximum mechanical stress near the outlets. Conducting HASTs using a current distribution measurement tool and a shorting/crossover diagnostic method to track the state of health of a robust membrane containing both a mechanical support and a chemical stabilizing additive, the result shows that the membrane location with the most severe thinning coincides with that of the deepest membrane hydration cycling. Upon examination of the cerium redistribution patterns after the test, it was found that the severe humidity cycling generated by the HAST condition near the outlet region not only generated the highest membrane mechanical stress but also resulted in the strongest water flux, which may cause local depletion of the cerium added as chemical stabilizer. Further study is required to decouple the cerium migration effect from the possible mechanical/chemical synergistic degradation effect.},
doi = {10.1149/2.0241806jes},
journal = {Journal of the Electrochemical Society},
number = 6,
volume = 165,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Mar 27 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Tue Mar 27 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}
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Works referencing / citing this record:
Estimating the Durability of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Membranes Using a Fracture Percolation Model
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